After: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
by JediC8H10N4O2
Summary: One shots set in a slightly alternate universe from canon. Because 'Happily Ever After' is only found in fairy tales, and life goes on even after you defeat the Dark Lord that was plaguing society since before you were born. Sometimes, life is good. Sometimes it's bad. There are times it can be ugly. All you can do is soldier on and remember the good times. Canon pairings.
1. Adversity makes Strange Bedfellows

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, things would have been different. Probably not as good.

This is A) something I've already written in Proverbially Harry Potter, but moved because I like the universe it is in and had a few more ideas for it. B) This is my attempt at making canon work for me, because I am cynical and don't believe that everything was golden and good after Voldemort died.

*Please be aware that this chapter mentions events that might be triggering to people. Auror's are involved. There will be no detail, as I am unwilling to actually write scenes of that nature. There will be mentions of rape, torture, and other unpleasantness*

Also, swearing

* * *

After the war, Draco Malfoy had decided he was going to try and atone for his mistakes. The best way to do that would be to work as an Auror. After all, he knew many of the people the Aurors were going after, having been forced to become a Death Eater. Granted, he got a lot of looks and snide comments and insults since he was working with a lot of people who viewed him as just as bad as many of the criminals they were chasing. Luckily, Draco agreed with and could pretend that everyone saying "Death Eater scum" around him were referencing all the bastards who had escaped death. Or Azkaban.

It was easier that way. Draco hadn't realized how frightening it was to be alone. Sure, his family had survived the war, but they hadn't come out unscathed. His father had been sent to Azkaban. He deserved it, even though Draco missed him. Lucius Malfoy had been his father, and had been his hero until everything fell apart. His mother had divorced his father, citing irreconcilable differences. Lucius believed in power, Narcissa believed in family. Lucius believed in bowing to insanity, and Narcissa was done with it. Neither one would talk to the other, and Draco felt torn between them. Crabbe was dead, Goyle was in Azkaban and Draco had no other friends.

At least two good things came from his time suffering under the Dark Lord. He was able to keep his mouth shut and take insults without exploding, and he realized that the path he had been on during school would lead to his destruction.

And maybe he had prayed to the ancient gods when Crabbe had set that room in the castle on fiendfyre that if he was allowed to live he would spend his life trying to make up for all the mistakes and crimes his family was responsible for. Harry Potter had saved him, and Draco was just confused enough over whether the ancient gods still existed that he figured it would be safer to do what he promised.

He was even learning about the Muggle world. Slowly. He had no idea they were so inventive.

All of that had lead to his current predicament. He was an Auror, and had helped bring in about twenty rogue Death Eaters or dark creatures that had served the Dark Lord. Some because of information he gave up to the department and some because he had turned out to be a damn good Auror. A damn good Auror who wasn't able to keep a partner for more than five months at a time.

To be fair, three of them had been unmarked sympathizers who made the mistake of commiserating with the 'poor Malfoy scion' trying to convince the world he had changed and being forced to work with Mudbloods. One had got himself blown up by not following proper procedure on a potions bust, and most of them asked for different partners, citing personal differences.

Twenty-one years old, and seven partners in the two years he had been an Auror.

"What was it this time? Wrong quidditch team?" Kevin Proudfoot, the Head of the Auror Department asked as Draco presented himself before him for partner reassignment, massaging his temples.

"Officially? No. This time it's because I don't like the Weird Sister song 'Do the Hippogriff'. Unofficially? I think I may have cursed him at Hogwarts, but I don't remember," Draco said, looking at the wall with his hands behind his back. Proudfoot just sighed.

"I'm running out of people to stick with you. Not that I'm complaining you turned in the Pureblood Supremacists we missed, or complaining about your work, but seven partners in two years is a bit... ridiculous," Proudfoot closed his eyes. "If only Davis hadn't got himself blown up."

Draco remained quiet, knowing that Proudfoot was just thinking out loud.

"Look, I have an Auror on assignment who needs a partner temporarily. His partner is going to be out for at least a few months. Hopefully knowing there is an end date will help. I really need this crime solved," Proudfoot said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Draco nodded.

"I'll do my best to solve this and get along with the Auror," Draco said.

"I'm going to hold you to that," Proudfoot said, his eyes zeroing in on Draco. This made him a little concerned, since Proudfoot had never acted like this before.

He was getting a bad feeling about this.

* * *

"No," Harry Potter said, as he looked from Draco to Proudfoot. "Isn't there anyone else?"

"No, and you damn well know it, Potter. Suck it up, it's only for a few months. The most important thing is catching this bastard before more innocents get hurt," Proudfoot said, glaring at Potter who glared back.

"What about Ron? Can't I work with him?" Potter asked.

"He's busy in Scotland on the case with Boot. They've been working it for three months, I'm not pulling either one of them off it now. There's no time to get someone up to speed on that case. The Brathford case is newer. Besides, that's his last case before he retires," Proudfoot fired back. "I'll leave you two to discuss the case."

Proudfoot left Draco and Potter staring at each other.

"I'm not any happier with this than you are," Draco pointed out after it was clear neither one wanted to speak first. Potter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Personally, I'm just relieved it's not Weasley. Or Longbottom."

"Neville would probably hex you," Potter agreed with a sigh.

"Accidentally, of course," Draco added. "All we have to do is keep our interactions focused on work. Now, let's get this bastard and be done."

"Right, so Richard Brathford. He's been targeting muggleborns, as well as muggleborn students. He was a member of the DMLE before we figured out what he was doing. Robert Birch managed to survive the attack and provided us with the details of the attacker. His family was not as lucky. After that, other victims came forward with other disturbing tales. Some muggleborn women said he attacked and raped them, and some of his neighbors have come forward saying that they heard disturbing sounds coming from his house. A few muggleborn students have not returned to Hogwarts, and upon visiting the parents we have discovered they have no memories of them. He is considered to be dangerous," Potter said in a monotone voice.

Draco swore. He had heard rumors of missing students, and it was still recent after the war that muggleborns and half-bloods had problems coming forward to report crimes. Especially if they recognized or realized he was in the ministry, specifically the DMLE. "Any leads?"

"Neville and I went to his house, but we ended up running into a few...traps. Put Neville out of commission," Potter said. Draco nodded. "We've sanctioned it off, but I needed a partner to go back. Some pretty dark stuff up there. Right up your alley."

Draco ignored the dig at his past. Now wasn't the time. That, and he didn't have a good comeback. "Well, let's get started."

* * *

"What in Merlin's name did this guy do in our Department?" Draco asked, as he went to work on a runic array for one of the darkest wards he had ever seen, which was saying something considering how he grew up.

"Recently, he was desk bound. Recovering from a bust gone wrong a month or so back. People said he was itching to be a Hit Wizard," Potter said, leaning against the wall, waiting. Potter wasn't as proficient in Runes, and he had easily agreed that Draco was probably more familiar with possible wards.

"Shows. I'm pretty sure he invented the damn ward. This thing is brutal. Good thing Longbottom didn't wander into this one. He'd be dead in a second," Draco said, trying to find an easy way to disarm it. "Merlin, I think we're going to need a Curse-Breaker."

Potter groaned in irritation. "Great. Bill and Fleur are on vacation in France, and I don't know any other Curse-Breakers who would come immediately. The longer we leave this place untouched, the farther away the bastard can get."

"What about Granger?" Draco asked.

Potter stood still for a minute, and unreadable expression on his face. "She can't."

If Draco were younger and the war hadn't happen, he would have made some comment about Granger being too nosy and smart to resist. Or make some kind of insinuation that there were problems between the two, but he remained quiet. Something in the way Potter said that made it obvious that there was something wrong. Wasn't his place to ask.

"What about Lovegood?" Draco asked instead. The girl may have been odd, but she was a Ravenclaw.

"Don't know what country she's in right now. And I can't ask her to do this," Potter sighed.

"Great, so one of us needs to run to the Department of Mysteries for an Unspeakable," Draco said, frustrated.

"You go," Potter said immediately. "I don't want you here on your own."

Draco bit his tongue to avoid saying any biting comments or to yell at Potter. "Fine."

* * *

None of the Aurors liked to involve the Unspeakables. They had a tendency to treat everything as an academic question, even things better left untouched and forgotten. Like the bloody ward. If it wasn't imperative that they find the bastard quick, Draco would have gladly waited for the eldest Weasley. He stood outside the Department, waiting for someone to come out.

He had been waiting for half an hour, sure that some of it was because the Unspeakables were about as fond of the Aurors as the Aurors were of them. That, and Lisa Turpin, the one who had greeted him, hated his father with a passion. Understandable, since he was in for murdering her parents, but that wasn't helping the case get solved.

"Alright, you said that it was a newly created ward?" a voice came. Draco turned to see a young girl standing in front of him. He stared.

"You're an Unspeakable? Aren't you a bit, young?" Draco asked, surprised. The girl scowled.

"I happen to have been one of the top students of my year, thank you very much," the girl informed him. Something about her seemed to be familiar. "Where are we going?"

"Sorry, have to side-along apparate with you. Precaution," Draco said, reaching for her arm. The girl slapped his hand and rested her hand on his arm.

"Don't grab me," she said, right before Draco left.

Potter hadn't moved, which was a good thing in Draco's opinion. The last thing he needed was to have Potter die while partnered with him. The public would probably try and have him thrown in Azkaban for it. The girl removed her hand from Draco's arm as soon as she was able and moved to investigate the array. She whistled.

"Merlin's balls, this is nasty," she murmured, pulling a device out of her robes and looking at it. Potter moved closer to Draco.

"Okay, if an Unspeakable says it's nasty, I know it's trouble," Potter said.

"What, don't trust me?" Draco asked, forgetting who he was talking to a minute.

"No, no I don't," Potter said bluntly.

"Hey, you were the one who tried to kill me Sixth year," Draco said, forgetting himself.

"Boys, quiet," the girl demanded. Potter and Draco shut up, glaring at each other. "Son of a bitch. This bastard deserves worse than dementors."

"What?" Potter and Draco asked at the same time, forgetting to glare at each other.

"This is a Blood Magic ward."

Draco swore while Potter looked confused.

"What's wrong with Blood Magic wards?" Potter asked.

"What do you mean, what's wrong with Blood Magic wards? Haven't you learned anything about the wizarding world?" Draco asked. "They are the Darkest magic out there."

"When used incorrectly. Which it is, most of the time," the girl said, moving back after setting something up on the runic array. "In this case, this ward would only function if blood magic was used incorrectly."

"What's wrong?" Potter said again, glaring at Draco. "I'm pretty sure this wasn't really covered in any of the classes I took."

"Of course not. No one teaches blood magic in schools. It's dangerous!" Draco exclaimed.

"So is magic," Potter shot back.

"Not like this. Potter, my father balked at blood magic. Only the most deranged of the Death Eaters use or practiced it. It messes with you. Surely Weasley told you, or Granger read about it. How could you possibly not know this?" Draco asked. "Was it too dark for your pretty little head?"

The minute he said it, he knew he had gone too far. Potter just had the ability to rile him up. That, and knowing he was so close to blood magic was disturbing him.

"My house was protected with a blood magic ward."

Potter's voice was stone cold, and his wand hand was twitching. Draco swallowed, remembering that time in Sixth year he had just mentioned.

"Mother's sacrifice. Rare, I take it Professor Dumbledore placed it?" the girl said, diffusing the tension. Both Potter and Draco turned to her. "That's a correct use of blood magic. Blood magic generally requires a sacrifice, of blood generally. The amount differs. The higher the amount, the more likely the donator is to accidentally die. For some, the addition of more blood than required strengthens the wards or the spells. The abuse comes from unwilling donations that are taken from people. Generally an abuser of blood magic will sacrifice people. For your ward, it was probably the act of sacrificing herself and her blood running in your veins."

Potter shrugged, still glaring at Draco.

"Who are you?" Potter asked the girl, who was messing with something on her device.

"Astoria Greengrass, but you can call me Tori."

"Daphne's younger sister, right?" Draco said, realizing why she looked familiar.

"Mm. Step a bit farther away please," the girl said, not paying attention. Potter and Draco moved back, right before the runic array blew up. The ward flickered into existence and then died. Tori looked pleased, and continued forward. Draco put a restraining hand on her as Potter took the lead. Tori glared at him.

"Auror procedure. No civilians until we know it's safe," Draco explained. Tori snorted.

"Weren't you two stuck without me?" she asked. "I can take care of myself."

With that, she marched right past Potter and farther into the room.

"I hate Unspeakables," Draco muttered. Potter nodded in agreement.

* * *

"So, do you think Proudfoot would mind if we took him in dead?" Draco asked Potter.

The two of them were back at the office a few weeks later, having looked at their memories in the penseive for the five hundredth time looking for clues they may have missed. Richard Brathford was one of the worst wizards Draco had run into, and he had met many Death Eaters. They had caught up to Tori Greengrass to find her green in the face and trying not to vomit, and neither wizard could blame her. They had found a few of the missing students.

"We'd have to make it an accident. Cover ourselves for the public," Potter said, scowling.

"I'm sure we can think of something. Maybe we got in a fight and he was a casualty? Our history would support that," Draco said. Potter nodded absently, glowering at the reports the forensic magic had come up with.

"It's been to long since he's been in his house. No magical traces, place wiped clean of his essence. Bastard knows all our tricks," Potter complained. They had been trying to find him ever since getting into his house, but they hadn't found anything. No one had disappeared that they knew about, and the muggleborn students were in school at the moment so he wouldn't be able to get to them. "Desk was clean too."

"Wonder if the janitorial staff and maintenance fixed Proudfoot's wall."

Proudfoot had been none to pleased when he had been shown the house. Upon coming out of the memories, he had cursed a blue streak and thrown a reducto at the wall that had almost completely leveled it. Luckily the Auror department was warded since that was occasionally something that happened, but everyone had been walking on eggshells around him.

Draco and Potter had been informed that they no longer had months to spare, he wanted the bastard and he wanted him last year. As they left the room, Draco had muttered that he had had the bastard last year, and he could have sworn Potter fought off a smirk. Luckily Proudfoot hadn't heard him. With Proudfoot bearing down on the two of them, they had been forced to work overtime, and pull several other Aurors off other non essential cases, like Mundungus Fletcher's fifth robbery attempt that month.

"Found a way to trace the bastard," came a new voice. Tori Greengrass was standing in Potter's office wearing her Unspeakable robes. Her eyes had a hard glint and she sat down between the two boys.

"You do?" Draco asked. "Where was it two weeks ago?"

"Not yet invented."

"You invented a tracking method?" Potter asked, surprised. Tori nodded.

"That bastard is right up there with the Carrows. I want to see him...well, suffering at the very least."

"You did this in two weeks?" Draco asked for clarification. Tori glared at him.

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"No, it's the fact the Department of Mysteries allowed you to work on it," Pottered answered. Tori looked a little uncomfortable at that.

"Well, they didn't. Not exactly. I was doing this in my spare time."

Draco looked at Tori with newfound respect, taking a sip of water. Most Unspeakables who were called in to assist with Aurors continued on their merry way afterwards. This was dedication.

"One catch," Tori said, looking between the two of them. "I want in."

"Will they let you?" Potter asked while Draco choked on the sip of water he had just taken.

"If I phrase it right," Tori shrugged.

Potter was nodding while Draco sputtered.

"Wait a moment," Draco said, and he dragged Potter out of the office. He turned around as soon as he closed the door and got in Potter's face.

"Are you insane? We can't let her come with us," he hissed. Potter looked surprised.

"Why not? This could be the break we need," Potter responded.

"She's a civilian! What if she gets hurt?"

"She's an Unspeakable, she'll be fine."

"She wasn't fine when she saw that scene at the house."

"Like you weren't affected."

"We trained for this."

"Unspeakable."

"She's barely out of school."

"And an Unspeakable."

"Her sister will kill me."

Potter stared at him incredulously.

"Are you afraid of Daphne Greengrass?"

"You do not get between Daphne Greengrass and her sister. Even Crabbe and Goyle knew that."

"Look, we can't afford to let this lead go. You know that. You're just going to have to hope she can take care of herself."

Draco stared at the wall as Potter went back into the office to tell Tori the 'good' news. He was just going to have to keep her in his sight the entire time. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't gotten enough sleep.

Back in the office, Tori was explaining her theory.

"Blood magic leaves a distinct trace. It's different from the essence of a wizard, which can be erased, but each ritual leaves a unique trace due to the different blood used. For example, the blood ward on Harry's house would have left a different trace if his father had been the one to sacrifice himself instead of his mother, even though it would have been the same ward. Blood magic seeps into a place, and there are specific rituals that have to be done to clear a place of it's effect if it has been done in massive amounts. In small amounts, the trace can dissipate after a time, but that isn't for several years. If you keep repeating the small amounts in the same place, it is the same as having done a massive amount at once. Now, since the magic is relatively new, the trace is still there. It should also still be on him. I was thinking that since we have access to the trace at his house, we could use that to locate any other places that share the concentration of that specific type of trace," Tori explained.

"How come no one had come up with that idea before?"

"Well, they have. It's just, no one could ever implement it. Most of the time, you don't know where or who the castor is, so you have to search everywhere and everyone. That uses up a lot of magic, and is impractical. However, since we know who the castor is, and have the trace, I came up with a device that should locate him specifically. If this works, I'll probably be able to get this into a project and make something that could be more widespread. Since he was a ministry employee, I was able to get access to his magical signature, which will be able to boost the devices ability to find him. If he is still in England, that is," Tori said, placing the device on the table. "All I need is to go to the house and get the blood trace."

Potter and Draco stared at her. "You did this in your spare time?"

"It's ugly and I brute forced it. Come on."

* * *

"I can't believe the damn thing worked," Draco muttered as he, Tori and Potter crouched down in the bushes outside of a small cabin. "It took five seconds."

"Amazement later, justice now," Tori said tersely, eyes watching the house. "There's a ward stone south of here, I can feel it. I'm going to disable it. Should be able to make it fall silently."

She disappeared before either Potter or Draco could tell her not to.

"She's quite a handful. No wonder Greengrass worried about her," Potter said, turning back to the house.

"Damn it, Potter. Now we have a civilian running loose. This is a horrible plan," Draco hissed. "I'm not letting any more innocents get hurt."

"She'll be fine. Unspeakable. Who knows what their training is like," Potter dismissed.

"They're a research group. A very secret research group, but a research group nonetheless. I knew Rookwood, and he was no fighter. The Dark Lord used him for research primarily."

"I'm sure she'll be..." Potter was interrupted by a scream. "Fine?"

The two Aurors ran towards the sound, only to find absolutely nothing.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Potter said, as Draco knelt down to examine something in the grass.

"Found the ward stone, but..."

There was a thump behind him, and Draco cursed. He spun around, keeping low to the ground but all he could see was a blue light coming towards him.

* * *

"Uh, that's it, I'm never drinking again," Draco muttered as he woke up. He was in a dark room that was definitely not his. He heard a groan from another person. "Potter, is that you?"

"Did we really let people sneak up on us?" came Potter's voice, disgruntled.

"I blame you for bringing along a civilian. Clearly it impaired me."

"I think it's your fault for not thinking she was able to take care of herself."

"Clearly she couldn't!"

"Wait, is she in here?" Potter asked. It sounded as if he was moving around, trying to find something. A hand smacked Draco in the face.

"That's me, Potter," Draco said, moving away. He hit a wall. "Wall behind me."

There was more scuffling. "Wall behind me too. I'm in the corner."

Draco moved to find a corner opposite where Potter's voice came from. "Me too."

"Rooms not big, didn't feel another body," Potter said, concerned.

"So we don't know where she is," Draco concluded, scowling. There were footsteps overhead, and then coming down a flight of stairs.

"Well, looks like our two guests are awake," A light flared, and both Potter and Draco shielded their eyes.

Richard Brathford looked from Draco to Potter. "Surprised the two of you were working the case together. I was even more surprised you managed to find me so fast."

"Well, you know us Aurors. Never sleep when there's crime to fight," Potter said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I know Aurors. Which is why I was surprised to find a civilian tampering with my array. Luckily that was a fake one filled with enough stored magic to mask the real one."

Draco wanted to curse. Of course someone who invented their own ward would have a safety measure. He probably had this place set up since he started his business.

"Anyway, I'm taking Malfoy here to have a little talk with. You, Potter, are going to stay right there and not do a thing when I open this cell."

"Why would I do that?" Potter asked, voice acidic.

"Because you're a hero and if you do I'll kill the bitch."

Brathford conjured ropes on Draco, before shackling Potter to the wall. Draco allowed himself to be taken out of the cell without fighting. He needed to make sure there were no other innocents in the building, and figure out what Brathford's game was. Brathford was none too gentle while dragging Draco up the stairs. Finally Draco was thrown in front of a chair. On the floor next to the chair was Tori.

She seemed to be alive, just unconscious. She had a bruise forming on her cheek, but other than that she seemed uninjured. Draco looked up at the person in the chair and gaped.

"Davies?!"

"Surprised to see me alive?" Roger Davies asked, smiling.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Draco asked, confused.

"Simple. We think the government is making a mistake," Davies said. "The Dark Lord had the right idea."

"You're a Pureblood Supremacist?" Draco clarified. "Aren't you a half-blood?"

"I'm not a Pureblood Supremacist. I just recognize that muggleborns and half-bloods who continue to have contact with the muggle world are a threat to wizards. The Dark Lord had the right idea in eliminating the problem, that the ministry wasn't working. He just went insane," Davies explained casually.

"What?"

"Come on Draco, you know the dangers. Muggles and Wizards need to remain entirely separate. Muggles hold the muggleborns back, get in the way of wizards. We need to eliminate the problem. The half-bloods and muggleborns who threaten our existence, keep us tied to the muggles."

"You're insane. What Brathford is doing isn't right. There are better ways to deal with this," Draco said. This was a position he had never expected to be in.

"I had high hopes for you Draco, that you would join us. You served the Dark Lord, hell I even remember how you acted at Hogwarts."

"I grew up, Davies. I realized it was wrong," Draco said.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Brathford."

Everything went dark.

* * *

"So, do I want to know how it went?" Potter's voice came after Draco groaned. He winced as he began to feel pain. It felt as if he had suffered from a crucio.

"Davies is alive."

"What?"

"Davies. Didn't die in the potions bust. Thinks we need to get rid of half-bloods and muggleborns who keep ties with muggles. Wanted me to join," Draco said. "Said no."

Potter was silent for a minute. "Why didn't you say yes? Probably could have surprised them and taken them down later."

"I'm trying to fix my mistakes. I'm not going to compromise my principles again, not after seeing what it got me the first time," Draco explained, annoyed. "Greengrass is alive. Seems mostly uninjured."

"Great. Did you see our wands?"

"No."

"Damn." Potter was silent for a little while before he spoke up again. "Did you say Davies looked down on muggles?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You aren't shackled, right?"

"No, guess they thought I'd be too hurt to move."

"Great. Get over here."

"Why?"

"I have muggle lock picks on me. Do you know how to use them?"

"Uh, I know the theory. I've been doing some research on muggles."

"Well it will have to do."

"Where are they?"

"My right pocket."

Draco dragged himself over to where Potter was, wincing as pain shot through his limbs. He reached into Harry's pocket, feeling around for it.

"This is awkward," Draco said, digging through the pocket. "How deep are these?"

"To the left more."

"Got it," Draco said. "Magically resistant?"

"Yeah, but I can cast a little light," Potter answered. Draco used the light and the lock picks to open the shackles. It took a little getting used to, but after ten minutes he was able to get Potter out of them. Potter rubbed his wrists, trying to get feeling back into them.

"Useful. I need to get myself a set," Draco commented, handing the lock picks back to Potter. Potter opened the cell door faster than Draco did the shackles, and the two of them were out of the cell, quietly sneaking around.

"We need to incapacitate Davies and Brathford, get Greengrass, and get back to Headquarters," Potter said quietly.

"We probably should have called Proudfoot instead of leaving a memo," Draco muttered, wishing they knew backup was on the way.

"We wouldn't have been able to use Greengrass' device," Potter replied.

"You're a monster," came Tori's voice. Potter and Draco quieted down, and peaked around the corner.

Tori was sitting, tied up, in front of Davies. Brathford was standing beside Davies, and another Auror was behind Tori.

"And I wanted to know how you managed to find us," Davies said, resting his chin on his hands.

"Like hell will I tell you," Tori spat. Draco clenched his fist when Brathford cast a crucio on her.

"Boss, why are we leaving Potter and Malfoy alive?" the other Auror, Peterson, asked while watching Tori thrash around.

"Their deaths make blood magic much stronger. So we'll keep them alive until we've developed that spell," Davies answered, before indicating to Brathford to lift the curse. Tori was panting, although she was able to spit at Brathford's feet.

"There are our wands," Potter whispered, nudging Draco and indicating a shelf across the room.

"I'm not the best at wandless magic, can you get them?" Draco muttered, eyes not leaving Tori's shuddering form.

"Yeah, need a distraction though," Potter said, since the wands were in sight of Davies.

"What the hell, life worked out well for you, so I guess I should take a page from your book," Draco said, breathing deep. Potter looked confused and was about to ask what he was planning when Draco straight up tackled Peterson to the ground.

"Bloody hell," Potter whispered, summoning the wands. "Malfoy, catch!"

Draco dodged the spell that Brathford shot at him, and caught his wand. He grabbed Tori and pushed her behind him, casting hexes at Brathford and Davies.

"Malfoy, untie me," Tori hissed, struggling with her bonds.

"Bit busy," Draco muttered, stunning Peterson while Potter dueled both Brathford and Davies.

"Could use a little help here, Malfoy," Potter called, dodging a sickly yellow spell while sending a bludgeoning hex at Davies.

Draco cast some hexes at Brathford and Davies, but didn't move since that would leave Tori open to attack.

"Seriously, Malfoy. Three on two is better odds," Tori hissed, still trying to untie herself.

"Malfoy, more help!"

"You beat the Dark Lord, how hard can they be?" Draco shot back. He ended up ducking an Avada Kedavra. "That's it."

Draco transfigured a stone wall around Tori despite her complaints, and joined Potter in fighting the two Aurors. Potter managed to get a solid hit, breaking Davies' knees. Brathford continued to fight both Draco and Potter after Draco kicked Davies' wand away from him. Potter got the tail end of a bludgeoner to the leg and stumbled. Brathford took the opportunity to shoot a slicing hex at him.

"Potter, look out!" Draco managed to knock him out of the way when Potter didn't move fast enough, wincing as he felt his arm get cut open. As the two were struggling to untangle themselves behind Potter's shield, Brathford turned to the transfigured stone walls protecting Tori.

"Finite," he said, pointing his wand at the walls. Draco struggled to get his wand pointed at Brathford, trying to not pass out from the pain and blood loss. Tori was yelling at Draco while Brathford pointed his wand at her neck. "Lac..."

Draco didn't even speak, just slashing his wand as hard as he could. Brathford didn't even know what hit him and he fell to the ground, dead.

Draco lowered his wand, his ears ringing and blocking out most noise. Tori seemed to be screaming and yelling, eyes wide. Looking behind him, Draco noticed that Davies had retrieved his wand and was pointing it at him. All Draco could do was watch, just barely holding on to consciousness. If this was how he was going to go, not a bad way to die. At least he took Brathford with him.

Potter's wand flashed and the spell hit Davies. Draco recognized the results as the spell used on him Sixth year. Potter's head was then in his field of view, mouthing moving and trying to get Draco himself to move.

"'Course the last person I see is you, Potter," Draco said thickly, before passing out into oblivion.

* * *

Oblivion didn't last forever. Draco woke up to his mother sitting by his bedside in Saint Mungo's, crying and furious and proud of him. Peterson had apparently confessed to everything after seeing what had happened to Brathford and Davies. Potter had managed to stabilize him by using some spell that Tori had shouted at him before freeing Tori and trying to send her for reinforcements. While he was recovering, he received a visit from Proudfoot, who yelled at him for making a rookie mistake and getting caught, Daphne Greengrass who, after yelling about getting her sister involved in a violent crime, thanked him for saving her, and even Potter who ducked in to tell him about Peterson before hastily leaving.

He was stuck in the hospital for three weeks, since the cut on his arm had been resistant to direct magical healing. Luckily he managed to avoid most of the paperwork. Unluckily, Potter had saved him some for when he got out of the hospital. As soon as he got out, he headed to work to grab the paperwork to take home. He was about to leave the office when he ran into Potter again.

The two of them stared at each other.

"Thanks for knocking me out of the way," Potter said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"First time I was glad to see that spell cast," Draco responded, not being able to help the wince as he remembered how painful it was Sixth year.

"Greengrass was by. Wanted to see how you were doing. They're letting her work on the project," Potter said after a few awkward seconds.

"She told you?"

"No, she said she couldn't tell me about the project," Potter and Draco shared a laugh at that.

"Working with you wasn't half bad Potter," Draco said as Potter turned around to leave. He turned back at that, a faint grin on his face.

"Sometimes you aren't half bad yourself."

Draco smiled as he left the office, until he ran into someone who was waiting right outside.

"Careful, don't want to reopen the wound," Tori said. She fidgeted a little, before handing Draco a piece of parchment. "Someone needs to teach you how to protect yourself better. You don't have any protective runes on gear. If you don't call, I'll sic my sister on you."

Draco looked at the piece of paper as Tori left to return to the Department of Mysteries. Smiling, Draco folded the piece of parchment in half and placed it in his pocket. He had a little bit of a skip in his step as he returned home. His mother, who had decided that Draco was staying with her until she felt he was better looked up and asked him what he was so happy about.

"Nothing. I just have an appointment with someone who is going to teach me runes."

* * *

"Potter, Malfoy, sit down," Proudfoot had called the duo in together as soon as Malfoy was back on the job. Potter hadn't been assigned another major case, instead dealing with paperwork and Mundungus Fletcher's tenth through seventeenth drunk and disorderly conduct that month. The two sat down across the desk from Proudfoot. He looked the two over.

"While I'm not happy that two of the three ended up dead, I am glad that you two managed to solve the case and get the crook. I'm even happier you both survived. Peterson took a deal, so this isn't going to trial. Now that I've chewed you out and you've finished your punishment time for allowing a civilian to go with you," At that both Potter and Draco glanced at each other confused. He hadn't done any of that. "Guy upstairs likes your work. Wants you to keep it up. I have a proposition for you."

Draco and Potter waited for him to go on.

"Longbottom's decided he wants to retire. Sprout's retiring from teaching, so the herbology spot is open. We all know Longbottom's the best with plants. That leaves Potter without a partner. I was going to assign him to Boot since Weasley's retired as well, but this case changes things. I want you two to consider being partners going forward. You two do damn good work, and neither one of you has complained about the other once. Well, besides Potter moaning about being left alone for most of the paperwork," Proudfoot leaned back in his chair while the two took in what he said.

"I suppose the assignment wasn't too bad," Potter said cautiously.

"True, you didn't try to recruit me into your pureblood supremacy group," Draco allowed, cracking a small grin that Potter shared.

"And we've already had our major disagreements and tried to harm each other. It's all in the past," Potter added. "Another few cases couldn't hurt."

"Good, it's settled then. Here's your next case. Hopefully we won't discover any more budding conspiracies in the Auror department. Now get back to work," Proudfoot said, pointing out of the office. Potter and Draco left, going back to Potter's office to look over the case.

"Who would have thought we'd end up fighting dark wizards together?" Draco asked after they had familiarized themselves with the newest case.

"Not me, definitely not before the last case. What a strange pair we make," Potter said, smiling. Both were quiet for a minute.

"No one's ever going to let us live this down," Draco said. Potter nodded.

"Especially not the getting captured."

The two got back to the case. Draco couldn't help but keep smiling. Life was looking up. Finally.


	2. We All Fall Down

AN: This deals with miscarriage. Be aware.

* * *

Life could be cruel.

It was a truth everyone knew. Well, a truth everyone knew now. Maybe in ten years time there would be those who didn't know how cruel life could be. Or at least less people who knew. Less children. Right now, with Voldemort dead for a mere four years, the scars of war were still barely scabbed over. Sure, George was walking and talking, but he was nowhere close to being even a quarter of who he used to be.

Harry Potter knew that truth. Had lived that truth, far more than most others his age. And yet, he had hoped that life would be a little bit better now. He had hoped that after all his years of pain and suffering and helping to bring about the end of Voldemort, he and his friends would be allowed to have joy in their lives.

For the most part, life was going well. Yes, he still put his life in danger every week, but this time it was on purpose, as an Auror. And yes, he fought dark witches and wizards, but again it was his job. He was good at it. Comes from doing it your whole life. He and Ginny were planning their wedding, for the next year. He got to see Teddy every weekend. His life was probably the best it had ever been.

Fate probably thought he was getting complacent. Or had mixed up a few strands, because here he was, sitting on the floor of his best friend's flat comforting his best friend's wife.

* * *

Ron was off on a mission in Scotland, and had been for two months. Hermione had found out the good news, and was planning on sharing that with him when he got back. Which meant that Harry had the job of comforting her when the unthinkable happened.

Hermione had miscarried.

Harry remembered the joy and happiness that had radiated from his friend when she had told him a month earlier. She wanted to tell Ron face to face, not using an owl, and with him coming off a successful final case as an Auror. However, she couldn't keep the news to herself and she confided in Harry, saying he was the only one who knew.

That meant he was also the only one who could comfort her. She had appeared at his office earlier today, eyes red and hands shaking. He took one look and ushered her out of the office. Neville looked at her and nodded at Harry's silent request that he cover for him for Proudfoot. As soon as they reached Hermione and Ron's flat Hermione broke down. She choked out the story, broken by the glimpse of a future that had been snatched away cruelly.

And Ron wasn't able to comfort her. Not now, not until he came home because while telling him about the pregnancy via owl would have been a little in bad taste, giving him the news he almost had been a father in any other way than person would be cruel. And so Harry was here instead, allowing his friend to cry on his shoulder, doing his best to try and comfort her.

This wasn't something they had dealt with before. Deaths of friends and family, that had been something they were able to deal with. Harry thought that maybe it was the promise of 'might have been' that made this so crushing. Little Victoire and Teddy were almost always looked at as the future. They were bright lights when the world was just emerging from darkness. Harry looked at Teddy as his chance to do right, to not make the mistakes of his parents. Teddy was Harry's chance to make a difference the way he had always wished someone had done for him when he was younger. Victoire had helped the Weasley family heal. The first of the next generation. All her uncles swore that she would know no evil. That she would always be the laughing, smiling baby she started out as.

Incidentally, this meant that she had six men who were going to be extremely protective of her when she grew up, and five women who would hex anyone who made her cry.

The Weasley's knew there would be others, but Victoire held a special place in their hearts. She was the first to bring a smile to George's face. Everyone knew that Victoire would be special, just for that. Then had come Dominique, and then Molly. Ron and Hermione had been trying for a year to have a child, and Ginny had recently said she was considering retiring so she could start having a family. They had all started to really look to the future, and put the past behind them.

And now this.

Holding one of his best friends, comforting her after the unthinkable. Life could be horrible.

Harry didn't know what to say, didn't know if there were any words he could say to help. It wasn't Hermione's fault, sometimes things just happen. He knew this. He just couldn't express it, not now. Maybe not ever. He knew that Hermione was probably wondering, thinking, angrily telling herself all the things she should have done to protect the life that had been beginning to form.

Sometimes, the emotions spoke louder than logic.

Harry rocked Hermione gently, like he did for Teddy whenever Teddy had a nightmare and came to Harry for comfort. But unlike for Teddy, he didn't know what words to use to stop the tears.

"It's not fair," Hermione sobbed, her first real words in hours. "This is suppose to happen to other people, it's something you hear about. It isn't suppose to happen to me. To us. Not after our life already."

"I know," Harry answered, eyes on his friend's brown ones.

"It was going to be good. Not perfect, because life isn't perfect, but good. Ron would retire, be safe. We would tell the whole family, we would argue about getting a bigger place. We would fight Molly on moving into the Burrow when the baby was born, we would argue over colors, over names. Ron would take care of the baby while I worked. George would be surrounded by a baby, and it would be good for him. It was going to be the best retirement present I could give Ron," Hermione continued, her voice wobbling as she closed her eyes and pictured the future she had dreamed. The future ripped from her.

Harry held her close, wondering what his parents would have done, what her parents would have done. He wondered if growing up with a loving family he would have known what to say, what to do. Maybe, maybe Molly would know. Or Arthur.

"Hermione, do you think, maybe, you should go stay with Molly and Arthur? Maybe talk to them?" Harry asked timidly, terrified to say the wrong thing, but desperate to help his friend.

Hermione stilled. There was silence, except for the sniffling of Hermione as she thought about his suggestion.

"I...I don't…. No. Not, not now. I can't… I don't… I need Ron."

"Should I ask Proudfoot to call him back?" Harry asked instead. Hermione trembled.

"I don't know. I want him here, but it's his last mission, and he's put so much work into it..."

"He'd rather be here with you," Harry said as Hermione trailed off. "Nothing is as important to him as family."

"I know, and I know he'd be here in a heartbeat if I told him I needed him, but being an auror was something he always wanted, and I want him to be proud of his career, not have this hanging over the end of it," Hermione said, wiping tears from her eyes. Harry smiled at his friend, still trying to stick to logic even in the face of overwhelming emotions and a non-logical situation.

"He'll feel bad if he knew that you went through this alone," Harry pointed out. Hermione snorted at that, eyes still watering.

"Please. He would know you had been here for me. Neville told me that the two of you work with Proudfoot to make sure that neither of you are both on long distance missions at the same time. Neville told me it was why you and Ron weren't partners like everyone thought you'd be," Hermione said, smiling faintly at Harry's brief scowl.

He made a mental note to tell Neville he wasn't suppose to mention that to Ginny. Or anyone else.

Hermione continued. "I'll tell him… I'll tell him that the miss..that this happened a few days before he returned. He won't feel so bad. And we can go together to tell Molly and Arthur… if we decide to."

"If you decide to?"

Hermione hid her face against Harry's chest, and mumbled something he couldn't hear.

"What?"

"I'm afraid that Molly will look down on me. I mean, she didn't have fertility problems, and we've been trying for awhile, and every time we go they ask, and now..." Hermione's words rushed out, tumbling over each other.

"They'll love you no matter what. The Weasley's would adopt almost anyone if they could, they aren't going to look at you any different because of this," Harry tried to reassure Hermione.

"Not this time. They will. They'll walk on eggshells, and anyone else who gets pregnant will stay quiet and I'll get looks of pity. And...and..." Hermione broke down again.

"I'm here. I'll always be here," Harry said, holding Hermione again.

"What if I start to resent everyone for having kids?" Hermione whispered. "What if I start to hate Teddy and Victoire and Dominique and little Molly? What if I start to hate Fleur, or Aubrey?"

"I don't think you could hate them. You love them," Harry said, trying to comfort her.

"But what if?" Hermione insisted, clutching Harry. "What if?"

"I don't know," Harry answered, staring at the wall. "I don't know."

They stayed like that, huddled on the floor, until the sun went down, and Harry's stomach growled, reminding them that they hadn't eaten all day.

"Take out Chinese?" Harry said, as Hermione let out a watery laugh. She nodded. Harry called the restaurant, and got the food when it arrived. He cajoled Hermione into eating a little, and managed to get her to the couch so they could watch a movie. He put on an Indiana Jones movie, and managed to get a few laughs out of Hermione. By 1 am in the morning, Hermione had fallen asleep against Harry. He let her stay there, wrapping a blanket around her and settling in.

He'd take a few days off of work, and stay with Hermione until Ron came back. It was the least he could do.

It was all he could think to do.


	3. Victoire's Goals

I do not own this world. This is a continuation of my skewed cannon.

* * *

Victoire Weasley may have been nine years old, but there were several truths of the world she knew.

1) Uncle Harry was the coolest uncle. Who else had come back from the dead?

Well, there had been that _brief_ period where there was concern about a Zombie Apocalypse, but other than that, it was universally accepted he was awesome.

2) Uncle George was the funniest uncle.

4) Tante Gabi was the most beautiful aunt, and the only one who could speak French, a beautiful language.

3) Teddy's cousin Tori Malfoy was who she wanted to be when she grew up.

Victoire's parents were Curse-Breakers, and her père had several interesting tales to tell of curse breaking in Egypt. In fact, she had been on several Curse-Breaking trips at nine years old, as Père and Mère would use vacations as an excuse to go on those excursions. Granted, she had always been stuck at camp, but it was still fun to go to different parts of the world and pretend to be a curse breaker. Up until she was five years old, she had thought she wanted to be a curse breaker when she grew up.

Now, she wanted to be an Unspeakable.

The first time she had met Teddy's other family, what her Uncle Ron called the Malfoy's, she had been prepared to dislike them. Most of the family couldn't understand how Uncle Harry could be friendly with them. Even Aunt Ginny couldn't stand them, and Aunt Ginny was usually right there with Uncle Harry.

She was visiting Teddy, who was staying with Tori Malfoy since his grandmother was in Saint Mungo's and Uncle Harry was off on a mission with Draco Malfoy and Aunt Ginny was covering a Quidditch game in Prague. Grandma Weasley had offered to watch him with cousins James and Albus, but Uncle Harry had insisted that Teddy get to know his other family.

Victoire refused to let the circumstances get in the way of her playdate with her best friend. Even if he was staying with people that most everyone in her family disliked.

When Père had dropped her off at the two story small house, he looked confused. Victoire didn't know until later it was because he thought they were still living at Malfoy Manor. Tori had greeted them at the fireplace, a cheerful smile on her face as she held her son. She had a bit of white powder on her hair, and her clothes looked singed, but she looked similar to Mère after a day of working and looking after Dominique and Louis and her.

Teddy had promptly grabbed her and gave her a tour of the house, and by the time they were finished, Père had left and Tori was back at work. Victoire and Teddy were peaking over the counter to watch her as she split her time between rocking Scorpius' bed and doing calculations and experiments behind a solid ward of red.

Teddy told her quietly that Aunt Tori had a strict rule of no interruptions, unless the ward was green. She was busy making new magic, and couldn't have distractions. Victoire told him that people couldn't make new magic, and the two of them got into one of their fights. They were distracted by laughter. Tori had noticed, stopped what she was doing, and was watching them. She said that the two of them reminded her of Uncle Harry and Draco, always arguing and fighting.

Teddy told her what Victoire had said, and Tori spent the rest of Victoire's visit explaining about her job, and what she did. Well, the parts of it she could explain. Teddy had said, in a solemn voice, that there were things Aunt Tori couldn't say without killing them. Tori had just smiled, shook her head, and said that killing was a last resort.

Later, Teddy pointed out that she hadn't denied what he said.

Curse-Breaking was adventurous, but being an Unspeakable sounded exciting. Instead of discovering old magic, you got to invent new magic, and study the old magic.

Victoire went home and informed Mère that she was going to be an Unspeakable. Père asked about her goal of being a Curse-Breaker, and she informed him that this way, she got to play with the magic curse-breakers found, and invent her own. Mère smiled, and said it was the perfect goal for an ambitious and smart girl.

After that, Mère had invited Tori over for tea. Victoire split her time between watching Scorpius as he interacted with Louis and Dominique, and listening to the conversation that Mère and Tori had. Six months later, Mère and Tori were thick as thieves, as Père said.

Victoire also got to see Uncle Harry and Draco interact. She wasn't entirely sure how they were like Teddy and her since they never seemed to agree on anything but she and Teddy both agreed that Uncle Harry was cool, but Père had laughed the first time they had everyone over, and even Aunt Ginny was fighting a smile. Tori had stepped in and was telling Uncle Harry and Draco to behave, and Teddy's Grandmother was smiling.

Teddy said that his grandmother had said that Tori, Uncle Harry, and Draco reminded her of her and her sisters, before they all went their different ways. Apparently, Teddy's Cousin Narcissa had agreed. Teddy confided that he wasn't allowed to tell Uncle Harry or Draco that, and so Victoire had promised she wouldn't as well.

Now, Victoire knew being an Unspeakable didn't mean she had to be like Tori, but as the years passed Victoire knew that she wanted to be Tori.

Mère was beautiful and smart, and loved to speak French with her, and was willing to get her hands dirty. Unfortunately, Mère also worried about making sure she always looked perfect, and Victoire just didn't want to do that all the time. Who cares about grass stains on your skirts when you can talk about the adventures you had outside?

Tante Gabi was also beautiful, but she was a teacher at Beauxbatons. Victoire didn't want to teach people. She barely had the patience to wait around for Louis to catch up when she went on adventures with him and Dominique. Tante Gabi wasn't who Victoire wanted to be.

Aunt Hermione was brilliant. Everyone said so. But she was also driven, and sometimes hard to relate to. Aunt Hermione's focus was always on the future. She saw four steps ahead of everyone, and she had paperwork with her all the time, and sometimes Victoire just wanted to have an adventure and exist in the now. The future was still a ways off. She would deal with it later.

Aunt Audrey was calm and collected. Grounded even. She allowed Uncle Percy to make rules, and she would follow them. Unless they were stupid, in which case Lucy said that she would sit Uncle Percy down, and 'lay down the law' and Uncle Percy would agree, and everything would go back to normal. Victoire couldn't deal with the rules Père and Mère came up with, forget the ones Uncle Percy did. Victoire needed freedom.

Aunt Angelina was funny. She wasn't as funny as Uncle George, but she was funny. There was just… an inherent sadness to her and Uncle George. It was fading away as time went on, but Victoire could still remember when it was more visible. For all the jokes and fun memories she had of WWW, Victoire couldn't completely escape the association with sadness. So even though Aunt Angelina was up there with Aunt Hermione and Mère, Victoire didn't want to be her.

Aunt Ginny was fun, and bold. She would argue with everyone, even Uncle Harry and Uncle Percy, and no one really argued with them. Mostly because it was easier to just listen to Uncle Percy and then run away, and Uncle Harry was an _Auror_ and had defeated Voldemort (who clearly wished he could have been French), but she did. She fit in with all the Uncles, and the Aunts. She even went and had a career in Quidditch. But Aunt Ginny had a temper, and when she lost it, it wasn't pretty. She had once refused to speak to Aunt Hermione for six months because Aunt Hermione had made her so angry. Victoire couldn't imagine not speaking Teddy for months over something, and Aunt Ginny and Aunt Hermione were best friends. And after a career in Quidditch, Aunt Ginny had decided to work for a newspaper. Nothing interesting happened at a newspaper, all they did was cover interesting events, mostly after they occurred. So Victoire didn't want to be Aunt Ginny.

But Tante Tori, Tante Tori was smart, and direct. Mère had given Victoire permission to address her as Tante Tori when she was seven, saying that Père's side would probably prefer to not have the same word used for Tori as themselves. Victoire knew that the Malfoy's had done something wrong in the past, but since Uncle Harry and Mère liked Draco and Tante Tori, Victoire assumed that they were better now. Tante Tori had a dry wit, and watched as Draco and Uncle Harry argued, and shook her head and smiled and would conspiratorially lean towards her and say 'boys'. She was smart, and liked to help people. She was stubborn, as Uncle Harry liked to say. She did research and development, but enjoyed helping Uncle Harry and Draco out with their cases. If you needed help, she would help, but she wouldn't swoop in and try and do everything like Aunt Hermione tended to.

Draco said, when Victoire made the mistake of saying that Tante Tori was as perfect as anyone could be who wasn't Mère, that Tori did have faults. She didn't always listen to people when she thought she was right, and sometimes would get herself into dangerous situations because she was thinking with her brain instead of common sense. Uncle Harry agreed.

Uncle Harry and Draco preceded to get into a fight as Uncle Harry then said that Tante Tori was also capable of getting herself out of said situations, and sometimes she really was right. Draco disagreed. Tante Tori had just sighed, and gave everyone some cookies to watch as the two argued.

It happened a lot.

So when Uncle Percy asked what she wanted to be when she graduated Hogwarts at one of the big Weasley family gatherings, Victoire didn't hesitate when she answered.

"I want to be an Unspeakable, just like Tante Tori," she proclaimed.

There was stunned silence, and a few of the cousins were whispering, trying to figure out who Tante Tori was, because she wasn't a Weasley. Père just sighed, while Mère smiled. Aunt Ginny had her head in her hands, and Uncle Ron was gaping like a fish. Aunt Hermione was stuck between smiling and trying to get Uncle Ron to respond. Aunt Angelina and Uncle George merely stared, while Grandpa Arthur and Grandma Molly looked at her strangely. Freddy, Roxy, Mimi, and Lucy were trying to figure out who Tante Tori was. Rose and Hugo looked confused, while James and Lily laughed. Albus nodded, as if he could see it. Uncle Percy looked a bit confused.

"You'd be great at it," Uncle Harry said, smiling. "In fact, I think if you told Tori that, she'd be happy to tell you what you needed to prepare for school."

Victoire beamed.

While her career was met with open arms, even if her reasoning behind it wasn't, her family drew the line at the nickname.

"Absolutely not, Victoire. I will not call you Tori. I gave you a beautiful name with a grand meaning, and you are not going to shorten it," Mère said, folding her arms and raising a delicate brow.

"You'll give Uncle Ron an ulcer," Père said.

"I'm flattered, but wouldn't you rather your own identity?" Tante Tori asked.

"How come I'm not Uncle Draco?" Draco asked.

"Because Tori's your better half, and everyone likes her better," Harry responded to him.

"It would be confusing if there were two of you," Teddy said, with the Potter cousins nodding.

Instead, she ended up with Vicki. Mère was still displeased, but everyone else was happy.

Except Draco.

"She could at least call me cousin," Draco had muttered at her tenth birthday party, watching as Tori presented Victoire with a collection of books she called essential for Unspeakables.

"Be glad she isn't calling you insane," Harry responded, watching his son James with wary eyes, prepared to step in and stop his mischievous son if it appeared like help was needed.


	4. Houses

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. I'm playing with the characters, and what little information we have available between the end of the war and the epilogue.

In this slightly skewed universe, Molly Weasley II was called Mimi when she was younger due to Victoire deciding Molly couldn't have the same name as Grandma Molly and that Mimi was prettier. It stuck, because it made it easier to tell who was being referred to.

* * *

The Sorting Hat enjoyed its job. Most of the time. It loved that it got to look through the young minds of witches and wizards that would go on to influence the world. It had sorted Albus Dumbledore, Tom Riddle, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood. No one could say that those people hadn't gone out and changed the world in drastic ways. It was proud to say it had seen in Neville in two minutes what the rest of the world took years to notice. Attempting to figure out Luna Lovegood's mind was still one of the Hat's favorite past times. And Harry Potter, well, Harry Potter was the Hat's favorite person. After all, not many people continued to converse with it after the Sorting. So the Hat was able to actually see the changes that happened in people when Harry talked to it.

And after the war from the last generation, the Hat could not wait to see how the new generation would be. How the new generation thought was a view into what the older generation ended up believing. The Hat wondered how the giant group of Gryffindors would end up raising their kids.

* * *

Teddy was the first of the 'Next Generation'. To his joy, the Sorting Hat said he was just like his mother, and placed him in her old house. After he got into Hufflepuff, none of the Weasleys ever made disparaging comments about it. Draco tried, once, but Tori whacked him over the head, and Teddy made a comment about the Hufflepuff Collective watching.

(Harry and Draco spent the next few weeks warily looking at every Hufflepuff they came across, and spending extra time in the office. Proudfoot was displeased with their resulting attempt to prove the existence of a 'Hufflepuff Collective' that had a hand in every event since the founding of Hogwarts.)

Victoire was the first Weasley not in Gryffindor. The Hat was deciding between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but ultimately decided that Victoire was more suited to learning than ambitions. Perhaps it was because she was trying to get the Hat to spill its secrets. Victoire complained when the Hat was removed from her head because she had not gotten any answers to important questions, like how did the Founders impart their decision making scheme, or manage to animate it long past their deaths. Professor Longbottom laughed while other professors hid smiles, and Ravenclaw table broke out into a whispered frenzy trying to figure out the answers to her questions. Victoire fit right in.

Dominique Weasley went to Gryffindor, to her father's pride. Her mother just sighed. While Victoire may have been the ringleader of the three siblings, Dominique was the one who always ran headfirst into danger. Or trees. Or angry pets. Or houses. Or fire. The list could go on. Bill was found of saying she didn't have a scared bone in her body. Fleur liked to say Bill's contribution had diluted the common sense Fleur had given her children. Dominique never quite caught those conversations. She was always too busy with her next adventure.

Mim 'call me Mimi and you die' Weasley, sorted right after her cousin, had gone straight to Slytherin. No one in the family was really surprised. After all, Mim knew exactly what she wanted, always went after it, and had managed to get her father wrapped around her little finger. She was going to be Minister of Magic, and she already had detailed plans for what she wanted to do in her first five years in office. Lucy had been traumatized when she found Mim's plan for wooing voters. The only thing she could say was that Mim had planned for everything. Including a plan for the random appearance of a Dark Lord while facing off against a current Minister who was competent. All the cousins had a healthy dose of respect and fear for their cousin Mim. Yes, everyone knew Mim was going to Slytherin.

Lucy came next, and she went to Hufflepuff. People outside the family joked that she went there because the Hat felt that putting Weasleys in the same house unnecessarily would be a mistake, but Hufflepuff was where Lucy belonged. Lucy was the peacekeeper of the cousins, playing with the younger ones when they were too small to go out on grand adventures in the backyard at grandma and grandpa's. She fussed over scraps, and worried about everyone. But if she thought you were teasing or taunting someone for no good reason, she would stand up and put you back in your place. James and Freddy and Roxy were often on the wrong side of Lucy. Lucy had loyalty in spades, determination, and didn't mind doing the dirty work for no credit. As long as the work wasn't actually against any of the rules. She had inherited Percy's devotion to rules.

James Potter was the next cousin sorted, since his last name was Potter. He went straight to Gryffindor, but that really didn't surprise anyone. People said James was just like his namesakes; brash, brave, foolish, mischievous and bold. He wasn't afraid to do what he wanted, and most of his heroes had been Gryffindors, so he wanted to go there. He didn't want to be in the same house as Lucy, because he was slightly afraid of her, or Mim, because Mim might try to use him in one of her schemes, and those were far too subtle for his liking plus she was scary when mad, and Ravenclaw wasn't even an option. James was a boy of action.

Freddy Weasley was sorted before his twin, and joined James in Gryffindor. It wasn't just because of the Uncle he had never known, or because everyone was convinced that Freddy and James were just like Fred and George, or James and Sirius. It was because he didn't have the patience for Slytherin, the temperament for Hufflepuff, or the ability to sit and study for Ravenclaw. That, and he and James couldn't comprehend going into a different house.

Roxy followed her brother, both in sorting and to Gryffindor house. Some people were surprised, because Roxy was more likely to be reading than causing mayhem with her twin, but her parents weren't. Angelina had noticed Roxy had stolen and was reading one of George's school journals by age seven, detailing experiments and ideas and pranks he and Fred had done. It didn't take long to realize who was planning the pranks Freddy and James were pulling. After the sorting, Angelina admitted she thought that Roxy might have ended up in Slytherin, since she nearly always managed to lay the blame somewhere else. George wasn't, because Roxy reminded him of himself. Fred had been the boisterous and loud brother, and George had been quieter. Of course, it was much easier to pretend to be boisterous so that it was easier to switch places, but Roxy was George in the quiet moments.

Louis went to Hufflepuff, simply because he did not want to spend all his schooling with his sisters, and Mim was scary. Louis had many of the traits of Hufflepuffs, like dedication. No one was surprised, since his favorite cousin was Lucy, and not just because of the fact that their names both began with L. When Louis did something, he would put his all into it. Even if it was attempting to avoid his sisters. Which he did a lot.

Scorpius Malfoy surprised Ron Weasley by being sorted into Ravenclaw. Draco complained that Tori had managed to taint his son with her strange ideas of learning and love of books, and she sweetly threatened to tell Proudfoot Draco volunteered whenever an Unspeakable needed an Auror for something. Scorpius knew it was where he belonged, because he had heard Victoire talking about the discussions that happened in Ravenclaw, the side projects that people started, and how (mostly) everyone pushed everyone else to the best of their abilities.

Albus Potter had spent some time deciding where he wanted to go. To his relief, Slytherin was not one of the first options for him that the hat presented. Instead, Albus went to Ravenclaw over Gryffindor. Ginny blamed Harry who blamed Draco for Albus' sorting, although both Ginny and Harry were proud of their son. After all, Albus had grown up being best friends with two bookworms, so it wasn't a complete surprise to anyone except James. But then, James was oblivious. Albus may not have been the most dedicated of students, but he was able to hold conversations with Rose and Scorpius. And sometimes, that was a feat that Ron and Draco couldn't do.

Rose Weasley, to her father's dismay, was also sorted into Ravenclaw. Victoire had been her favorite female cousin, so she was glad to get to be in the same house. Rose had gotten her mother's intellect and love of books and enjoyment of learning, so no one was really surprised. Ron was just upset she was in the same house as Draco's son.

(Rose and Scorpius did have a friendly rivalry, mostly trying to compete for the spot of Albus' favorite person. Albus refused to rank them against each other, preferring to stick to his previous designations of them as 'best cousin' and 'best friend'.)

Lily Potter went to Gryffindor, like her oldest bloodbrother. Some people compared her to her grandmother, others to her mother. She was bright, idealistic, and willing to try everything once. Sometimes, she tried it more than once. After all, she said with a smile on her face after breaking her arm for the second time after jumping out of a tree to see if she could fly, again, what if the first time was a fluke? She also liked to prove she could keep up with all her cousins, even from a young age.

Hugo Weasley went to Gryffindor, to his father's delight. Hugo was a little Ron, but had more common sense. He and Lily, being the youngest, had always been inseparable. When they weren't allowed to join the older cousins, Hugo would be the one to come up with an alternative, more dangerous, course of action that they could do on their own without anyone.

Many people who were not Weasleys, related to Weasleys or friends of Weasleys were confused that a family that consisted of mostly all Gryffindors, the French Tri-Wizard Champion, and a single Ravenclaw could have children in all the houses. They would try and explain to themselves and friends why it happened, or maybe even believe that the Weasleys were upset that their children did not all go to Gryffindor after centuries of that tradition.  
The honest truth though? After fighting a war as children, and seeing blood spilled on both sides and from all houses, the Weasleys and their friends and relatives all knew the truth. The Houses did not make people great, or evil, or boring, or jerks. It was the choices people made. And as long as their children, nieces, nephews, and their friends made decisions that they could be proud of, they did not care about what House they were in. Not really.  
They really only cared for bragging rights.


	5. The Seven Month Courtship

Disclaimer: I am not British. Therefore, I cannot be JK Rowling, and thus cannot own Harry Potter.

Warnings: There is a brief consideration of ending a pregnancy.

* * *

Angelina tried the spell again. And again. And a fourth time, on the off chance that she had made a mistake the first three times. Same result.

She was pregnant.

She had always meant to have children, at some point down line. Down, down the line. She had kind of thought that, well, she'd be married when she started having them. Right now, she didn't even have a steady boyfriend.

Which lead to the second problem. Well, not problem. More like, inconvenience. No, it wasn't an inconvenience. It was just awkward.

She knew exactly who the father was. She had broken it off with Lee, again, for what had been agreed between the two of them for the last time, two and a half months ago. There had only been one other person she'd been with in that time. And it wasn't exactly her favorite memory.

It had been the five year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts. The old crowd had gotten together at the Leaky Cauldron which Hannah had closed early. She had been drinking and reminiscing with everyone else, and the next thing she knew she had woken up next to George.

Both had been embarrassed, and agreed that it was probably a mistake. After all, she had been Fred's girlfriend and George was Fred's brother, and George hadn't really gotten over his brother's death and Fred was her first love. He was slowly moving on, but everyone could tell he wasn't really ready for anything beyond being an uncle.

He was a good uncle though. She had stopped by his store at one point, to say hi to Lee since they were currently on at the time, and saw him interact with a young Victoire who had been excited about being an older sister. It was one of the few times after the war that she had seen George smile like he had during Hogwarts.

Angelina took a deep breath, pulled out her Gryffindor courage, and knocked on Alicia's door.

"We don't have practice until tomorrow, I'm not getting up," came the response from her flatmate.

"It's important," Angelina said, folding her arms nervously.

"It better be," came the muffled response, with Alicia opening the door. Alicia wasn't a morning person, not after all of Oliver's early morning practices. Angelina was surprised that the two had managed to date for so long given Oliver's chipper nature in the morning and Alicia's tendency to attempt to glare things to death.

"I'm pregnant," Angelina said. Alicia stared at her, uncomprehendingly.

"That's it? You'll still be pregnant in five hours. Congrats, tell Lee I hope the kid inherits nothing from him. Night," Alicia went to close the door, but Angelina stuck her foot in the door.

"The kid won't inherit anything from Lee," Angelina said, hoping that Alicia would understand the problem.

"Good for the kid," Alicia said, kicking at Angelina's foot so that she could close the door. "I wouldn't wish his genes on anyone."

After five more minutes of Alicia trying to get Angelina to let her close the door and go back to sleep, she looked up.

"Wait, how do yo know the kid won't inherit anything from Lee? Didn't Hermione and Malfoy's girlfriend have some kind of conversation about jenny-ethics or something at Harry's wedding and the possibility of their kids having certain traits?" Alicia asked, looking confused.

"Because Lee isn't the father," Angelina bit out. Alicia stared at her as she processed the information.

"You know what? It's too early to deal with this," Alicia said, and she turned around and fell back on her bed.

"Oh no. I need help, and going to Katie would be awkward, and I'm not going to anyone on the team," Angelina said as she entered the room and sat down on the bed. "You have to help me."

"You could, you know, talk to the father," Alicia said, voice muffled by a pillow.

"ALICIA!"

"Fine, fine. But I expect to be well compensated for this," Alicia grumbled, getting up and facing Angelina.

"What do I do?" Angelina asked.

"I don't know," Alicia said.

"It was an accident."

"I kind of figured that."

"Can you be more helpful?" Angelina asked, annoyed at her friend. Alicia sighed.

"Not right now. You are going to have to tell the father eventually, unless you decide that you aren't going to..."

"I don't know. I want to have kids at some point, but not now. But I'm not sure how I'd feel if I didn't keep it," Angelina said, her emotions finally hitting her.

"Ok. Well, is there any reason we can't put this conversation off until you've had a bit longer to think?" Alicia asked, yawning.

"I'm in the middle of a crisis, and you want to go back to sleep? I need better friends," Angelina moaned. Alicia scowled.

"Hey, I live with you. What more do you want from me this early in the morning?" Alicia demanded.

"A plan of attack? An idea of what to do? A Time-Turner?" Angelina listed off.

"All that sounds like a Hermione thing. Go talk to her," Alicia said.

"And she'll tell Ron, and it'll get around to George. Or she'll tell Harry who will tell Ron who will tell George. Or she'll tell Ginny who will tell Harry who will tell Ron who will tell George," Angelina said, beginning to become hysterical.

"No she won't. Although it would be strange for you to meet with Hermione out of the blue," Alicia allowed. She sighed and looked at her friend. "Look, besides the fact I want to go back to sleep, I don't think I'm who you should be talking to. And I don't think you should be talking to him about anything until you have some idea of what you want to do. Think it through, don't be rash. Now, can I go back to sleep? I've been reasonable."

Angelina took a deep breath and exhaled. "I guess. But I'll probably need help later."

"Great. Now, get out of my room so I can go back to sleep. See you in several hours," Alicia said, ushering Angelina out of the room and shutting the door and locking it. Angelina sighed, went to the kitchen and poured some coffee. She needed to be awake.

Five hours later, after Angelina had managed to calm down on her own and start to think about her options, Alicia's door burst open. A frantic Alicia ran out, eyes wide, looking around the flat. She found Angelina sitting at the kitchen table.

"You're pregnant?" Alicia yelled out. "Lee isn't the father? What are you going to do?"

Angelina put her head on the table and sighed. Her roommate and best friend: able to give good advice, but only when she was half asleep and not really aware of what was going on.

* * *

Three weeks later, and after several melt downs between Angelina and Alicia, which Angelina didn't appreciate ("Wait, does this mean I might have to find a new flatmate? We just renewed our lease!" "Alicia, _not helping!_ "), Angelina finally knew what she was going to do.

She was going to have a baby. She was going to have a baby. Dear Merlin, she wasn't ready.

A very confused Oliver Wood accidentally walked in on the plans for a raid on the Department of Mysteries to find some sort of time reversal spell or device to fix the problem. He managed to convince Angelina and Alicia that no, it was a bad idea to invade the Ministry, even if Harry had done it in his fifth year and again in what would have been his seventh. If they were caught, they wouldn't be able to play Quidditch while serving their sentences, and might be banned from Quidditch for life.

While it did have the intended effect of ending the half formed plan, it set Angelina off as she remembered that she would have to take a break from Quidditch and she started to cry. Alicia, still freaked out by the fact her roommate was pregnant, started to yell at Oliver for making Angelina cry, which made Angelina more upset.

Oliver decided that it was probably in his best interests to stop making unannounced visits to his girlfriend's flat. At least until what ever was going on in there had been dealt with. A floo call to check would be much easier than dealing with two crazy women unafraid to hit him.

* * *

A month after she discovered her pregnancy, Angelina actually knew what she was going to do. It did not involve time travel or invading the Ministry. It didn't even involve moving out of the flat. Well, not yet at least. She was going to have a baby. According to the healer, she was going to have a healthy baby.

She was going to switch to being a reserve player for the Tornados as soon as she started to show, then return to being on the main team for every other game, and then after seven months return to her original position. Childcare was already provided, since several players had some young children. She had worked it out with the captain, and everyone was satisfied.

Now, she stood in front of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes. Now, she had to tell George. Alternatively, she could do what she had done for the past two days and stand there for ten minutes, then walk away. That was sounding like a better idea the longer she stood there. Angelina turned to leave when Lee came out of the store, looking a little aggravated.

"It's been three days. You going to come in, or are we going to have this conversation outside?" Lee demanded. Angelina stared at him blankly, not understanding why _he_ was so upset when _she_ was the one who was pregnant with a child belonging to the nearly identical brother of her first love.

"Inside," Angelina said, knowing that this was definitely not a conversation she wanted other people to overhear. And people were beginning to loiter now that Lee had come out and begun to make a scene.

Lee sighed and went back inside, leaving the door open for Angelina to follow. He beckoned her to the back room, and cast a privacy charm once she reached it. He then folded his arms and stared at her.

"We called it quits. We agreed we were done for good this time. I'm happy with Katie," Lee started, and Angelina realized what her behavior the last few days looked like to people who were not aware of her condition.

"I'm not actually here to see you. I'm glad you and Katie are happy. Really," she said, when Lee looked a little unsure. "I'm here to see George."

"About what?" Lee asked, curious and slightly hurt that Angelina hadn't been trying to get him back. Not that he would do that to Katie, or that Angelina would do that to Katie, but still.

"It's, well, kind of...personal," Angelina hedged. This was not going to plan. If she had a plan. If she had a plan, this was not how it was going to go.

She and Lee just stood there in an awkward silence for a few minutes, before Lee shrugged and went to get George. Angelina spent that time debating whether she really wanted to have this conversation, or if she should escape via the floo, and pretend she hadn't left her flat in five days, so she could not have possibly been standing outside the building Lee, you must be going insane.

Before she could figure out where the floo powder was kept, George walked in the backroom, and put up the privacy charm. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"'You're here to see me'. You couldn't come up with a better lie?" George asked, a small smile on his face.

"Huh? Is this about what Lee said? Because I really am happy for him and Katie. And I really am here to see you. But if you're too busy to talk, or in the middle of something, or any reason whatsoever, I'm willing to come back later," Angelina began to say, her words rushing out as she tried to prevent the conversation she was almost certainly not prepared for.

"Angelina, what's the matter?"

George looked concerned, and worried, and Angelina really, really needed someone who would be able to understand what she was going through and wasn't he in the same boat? Even if he didn't know it yet?

"You might want to sit down," George conjured two chairs so that both of them could sit down, and gestured for her to continue.

Angelina gathered up the Gryffindor courage that had alluded her for the past three days, closed her eyes and told him.

"I'm pregnant. About two months."

George stared at her, uncomprehending. "Congratulations. Shouldn't you tell Lee? Or the father?"

"I just did."

"But Lee said..." George started, before he began to do the math. His face turned pale, and he pointed to himself. Angelina nodded. "Me? I'm going to be a..."

"Yes."

"Not a prank?"

"No. Not unless my wand has managed to get a healer to go along with its attempt to prank me," Angelina said. "And Alicia's wand."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"And you're sure I'm the father?" George was begging for Angelina to tell him that it was some sort of prank.

"I know who I've slept with, and in the time frame I have, you are the only person. So yes. You are the father."

George exhaled. "My mother will be pleased."

* * *

Angelina was not feeling at all charitable towards George. Not only had he gotten her in this state, where she could barely eat any food without getting sick, he had told his mother.

Molly Weasley was a lovely woman. Angelina liked her. Normally. Not when the woman in question was flooing her every other day, asking about how she was, whether she needed anything, and was she absolutely sure she didn't want to move into the Burrow so that she wouldn't be alone and would have someone to help with raising the child.

Molly meant well, but Angelina had been living on her own for years, and going back to anyone's mother's house felt like a step backwards.

No. She was going to get through this. George was going to help. Starting now.

George was going to talk to his mother and make her stop. Angelina walked through the door to the store to inform George of this, and was immediately pulled into the room in the back and made to sit down.

"You should be resting. Are you ok?" George asked, fretting over her. If Angelina hadn't been in an almost perpetual bad mood (she was bloated, constantly sick, and moody) she would have thought it sweet. As it was, there were two Weasleys too many now asking her pointless questions.

"No, I'm not. Your mother keeps calling. Make her stop," Angelina demanded. George sighed, having gotten used to her moods after two months.

"She did it to Fleur, and Audrey. Bill and Percy couldn't make her stop, I don't think I'll be able to. The only reason Ginny isn't dealing with it too is she moved into the Burrow recently," George said. Angelina's death glare had him backpedalling. "But I will certainly ask her to stop. In fact, how about I do that right now? You sit tight."

"Sitting is about the only thing I can do right now," Angelina said sourly. Since her morning sickness was bad, she had been placed on the injury list, and was grounded. It made sense, since she couldn't even think of flying without feeling sick, but Angelina was bored. She had never been one to sit and watch.

Fifteen minutes later, George came back. He smiled sheepishly. "She agreed to call once a week. Luckily with Ginny pregnant and Audrey having just had Lucy, she has a few other people to worry about instead."

Angelina scowled, but when Molly Weasley decided something, she didn't really back down. Angelina sighed and closed her eyes. George looked her over, a frown on his face.

"Are you ok?" he asked again, serious.

"No. I'm bored. I can't fly, I can't watch them fly. I'm stuck in my flat, and I need to be doing something. Something productive," Angelina snapped. George gave a faint smile.

"Ginny's the same way. She's driving Harry spare. I think he got banished to Malfoy's recently," George said.

"Why Malfoy?" Angelina asked, still surprised by that friendship even two years later. By all accounts, Harry and Malfoy made a good Auror pair, and no one had anything bad to say about Malfoy's wife, but after having gone to school and seeing their rivalry play out it was hard to wrap her head around their friendship.

"Going to Ron and Hermione's wouldn't have been punishment, it would have given him ideas," George answered, mimicking his sister.

"I thought you said she was staying at the Burrow," Angelina said. "Why wouldn't Harry just stay at their house?"

"Because that wouldn't be punishment either. He would invite Ron and Hermione over and wouldn't learn his lesson," George answered. Angelina laughed.

George looked at her thoughtfully. "Do you want to work here while you're grounded? You could just run the register. It would give Lee the opportunity to take Katie on a nice vacation. And it would be something to do."

Angelina didn't have to think about it very long. "Yes. I need to do something. Can I start today?"

"Sure," George answered. Angelina smiled, before her smile vanished.

"I'll start right after I visit the loo."

* * *

After a month of working at the store, Alicia was watching Angelina after she told a funny story about her day. Angelina finished her story, and raised an eyebrow at Alicia.

"What?" Angelina asked.

"Spending a lot of time with George lately," Alicia said. Angelina frowned.

"Well, not only am I working with him, I'm kind of carrying his child," Angelina said, not understanding what Alicia was saying.

"I know, you've just, been mentioning him a lot. I was wondering if something was going on between you two. You know, more than what is already going on," Alicia asked, shrugging.

"No, nothing besides the obvious," Angelina said. Alicia dropped the subject, but that Angelina couldn't forget what she said.

A week later, she was still mulling over what Alicia had said. Sure, she had been spending a lot of time with George, but half the child she was carrying was his. They would be spending a lot of time together for the rest of their lives now, sharing a kid. And yeah, she enjoyed his company, but she had known that way back in Hogwarts.

But now that Alicia had brought up the possibility she might feel something more for him, Angelina was worried. She hoped she wasn't using him as a substitute for Fred. There were times when both of them would fall into an uncomfortable silence because they both knew Fred would have said something.

She knew she had moved on from Fred. She wouldn't have started to date Lee otherwise. And Fred and she had broken up when the war started, saying that they would revisit everything after the war had ended. It clearly hadn't happened, and she had started dating Lee about a year and a half later. But now that she was carrying a child who would possibly look very similar if not identical to any children she might have had with Fred, she wondered if she was trying to pretend it was Fred.

"What's the matter?" George asked, since she had been quiet so far that morning. Ron was off scouting a new location in Paris and Lee was running the Hogsmeade store, so it was just the two of them in the store. Since Hogwarts had started about a month and a half ago, it was a slow business day.

"It's nothing," Angelina said. George raised an eyebrow, and Angelina sighed. "It's just something Alicia said last week. Well, she didn't say anything, but she _implied_ it."

George waited for her to continue, but Angelina stopped there. She didn't want to bring up her concerns or Fred. Bringing up Fred around George was never easy. When she didn't say anything, George prompted her.

"Well?" he asked.

"I'm not, I'm… There is no easy way to ask this," Angelina said, frowning. "You don't feel like I'm substituting you for Fred, do you?"

George stilled, and his face became unreadable. Angelina felt bad immediately for asking, but couldn't take the words back.

The two of them sat there in an awkward silence for what felt like forever. Angelina didn't know what to say, so she just let the silence continue.

"I was worried when I first found out that I might just see whatever potential nephew or niece you and Fred could have had. I know it's possible that both of you would have decided after that you didn't want to start up again, but… everyone seemed to end up with their school day significant others," George said, breaking the silence. He didn't look at her, and switched the sign on the store to 'on lunch break' so that they would have some privacy.

"You're really good with your nieces. Victoire loves you, Lucy always smiles when you hold her and Dominique and Molly seem to adore you as well," Angelina said.

"You mean Mimi," George corrected, giving a shadow of a smile. Victoire had decided that having a cousin Molly and a grandmother Molly was too confusing, and had nicknamed Molly Mimi. Audrey had thought the name adorable, so it had stuck. Victoire would correct everyone if she heard them call her cousin Molly. Young Molly had also started to only respond to Mimi.

"Sorry, how could I possibly forget," Angelina said, smiling. It was hard not to when bringing up the next generation of Weasleys. The four girls were adorable, and those who could talk had taken to calling her Aunt Angelina, or Aunt Alina, as Dominique would say.

"I just thought that if anyone from my family had a child with you, it would have been Fred. And it was hard. But, Dad talked to me. He said that I shouldn't look at this as something Fred wouldn't have. After all, if Fred were alive, I'd probably try and pretend to be the kid's actual father," George continued. Angelina smiled.

"Do you remember that time Fred got a detention, and we had a date to practice Quidditch, and you pretended to be him for the date since I had told him to not get a detention or I would hurt him?" Angelina asked. George laughed, a little thickly, but an actual laugh.

"I lasted all of five minutes before you had thrown the quaffle at my head and asked where my idiot brother was," George reminisced. "You had the two of us doing your chores and begging for your forgiveness for weeks for insinuating you were so shallow you didn't know who you were dating."

"Merlin, any of your children would have been confused growing up. You two wouldn't have been able to stop trying to switch places," Angelina and George shared a laugh over that.

"So, really, this kid will just have a single father instead of two. But Fred would have been happy for you. And..."

"Yes, we will absolutely name the child Fred if it's a boy," Angelina said, laughing even while tears formed in her eyes. "There isn't really any other name option."

"Anyways, you've never mistaken us before. You haven't been trying to use me as a replacement. If you had, it would have been back when it...when it happened. Not now," George said. He fidgeted a bit, and Angelina arched a brow.

"What?"

"I was...well… I've enjoyed the time we've spent together. And since we'll both be the parents of this kid, I was wondering if maybe we could try dating… just to see if we would work. Before possibly forcing our kid to go through something unpleasant later," George rushed out, looking everywhere but at her.

Angelina paused. She had enjoyed spending time with George, and wouldn't be opposed to trying to date.

"You know, we're doing this in the wrong order," Angelina pointed out, and George gave a ghost of a smile. "Yes, why not."

* * *

For their one month anniversary, which Angelina felt odd celebrating but George had insisted, Angelina and George were enjoying a dinner at his flat above the store.

Angelina had enjoyed the last month, although nothing had really changed. Sure, they eaten together a few more times, and had gone to a few Quidditch matches together, but it had felt normal. They hadn't done a lot of dating activities, mostly because Angelina didn't always have a lot of energy. Angelina liked that there wasn't any pressure on them.

After excusing herself to the loo, she came back to discover George fiddling with something, before hearing her approach and then pocketing it. Angelina tried not to give a sign she had noticed anything, but inwardly she was worried.

She hoped that wasn't what she thought it was.

Her hopes were dashed a few minutes later when George pulled out a ring.

"Angelina, will you..."

"Not right now George. It's too soon. We've been dating for a _month_. I hope your mum didn't put you up to this, saying you had to marry me. I don't want to be an obligation," Angelina said, trying to let him down lightly.

"She didn't. You wouldn't be an obligation, I know you can take care of yourself. It's one of the things I've always liked about you. I'm asking because after the past several months, I've realized that I want to marry you. Not because you're pregnant, but because I like having you around. Because when you're around, I feel more alive than I have in years. You're beautiful, amazing, funny, and everything I could ever want in a person. You aren't Fred, I'm not Fred, but somehow I feel like I'm not as alone when I'm with you," George said earnestly, placing the ring down and trying to convince Angelina. "If you don't want to right now, I want it to be because you aren't ready. Not because you don't think I am."

Angelina took all of that in, and closed her eyes. A part of her felt like George was just trying to do what the rest of his family had done, and marry someone. But this was George. He wasn't displaying any of the signs she had come to recognize through out the years of watching him. His eyes weren't glinting, he wasn't smiling. This was George when he needed you to believe him, when he wasn't trying to pull anything over anyone. This was the George who told her that Harry had seen Voldemort after the Tournament fiasco. This was the George who told her about the DA. This was the George who admitted he was terrified for his younger brother at Bill's wedding.

So, maybe he was ready. But she was not. Not yet.

"Alright. Then not now, because I'm not ready," Angelina said. George nodded, and put the ring away.

* * *

Two weeks later, and Angelina would have thought things might be awkward. After all, she had said no. Well, she had said not right now, but she had still not accepted. But George acted the same way he always had. And Angelina was beginning to think about it.

She had thought he was moving too fast. After all, they had only been dating a month. But she _had_ known him for years. And he was right, they had been getting closer since she told him about the pregnancy.

She loved George, had loved him as a friend. She didn't get into ridiculous arguments with George like she had with Lee. Her relationship with Lee had been tumultuous and despite their feelings, neither one of them had been right for each other. But with George, it was different. She could see a future with him, and with Lee, she hadn't been able to.

She wouldn't mind being married to George. But that wasn't a good enough reason to say yes. She needed to be sure.

She was pretty sure that she needed more time.

Or maybe she needed to be faced with the prospect of life without George. Not that she really wanted to repeat that incident.

Three days after she had decided she wouldn't mind marrying George but needed more time to decide, the idiot went and blew himself and Lee up with an experimental potion.

Angelina had been manning the front of the store while Ron was running the Hogsmeade front to allow Lee and George the ability to work on a new creation. Ron wasn't the best at inventing, and Angelina was not supposed to do anything that might hurt the kid.

She had been ringing someone up when she heard a loud explosion. She and the customer froze, and Angelina hurried to the back room as fast as she could. Which was extremely slow since she was currently extremely large. She flooed Ron, since she wasn't allowed to be in the basement in her condition. When Ron had come back up ashen and told her to floo Saint Mungo's, she knew something was horribly wrong.

The two men had been drained of their magic and on the verge of death. After five agonizing hours they had been stabilized, and fell into comas. No one knew when or if they would wake up, or what they would be like if they did wake up.

After three days, Lee woke up. He was responsive and alert. He was speaking backwards, but the healers were sure they would be able to fix that. According to Lee, he had been farther away from the blast. Lee was double checking the chalkboard since one of the equations had been smudged when George had sworn. Lee didn't know what happened because when he went to turn around, the potion had exploded.

Two days after Lee woke up, and Alicia, Katie, and Hermione were trying to convince Angelina that she needed to leave George's hospital room. Angelina and Molly had been constants in the room ever since George had stabilized. Various other family members had come through to check on him, but those two refused to leave.

Victoire told her Uncle George he was not allowed to go see Uncle Fred because Uncle George had promised her a special gift at Christmas. Dominique kept trying to wake him up, because he had slept too long. Mimi informed Uncle George that he was not allowed to miss Lucy's first Christmas. Teddy Lupin had even stopped by with Harry and Ginny to tell George he needed to wake up.

If it weren't so dire, Angelina would have thought it adorable to watch George's nieces yell at him to wake up. Instead Angelina was siting at his bedside, staying with Molly and hoping he would wake up.

Which he finally did. When Angelina was in the bathroom, because the bathroom had become her best friend during her pregnancy. Angelina came back to an ecstatic Molly, relieved Arthur, confused George, and a poor healer trying to check on George.

Seeing George awake and responding had Angelina sagging. Luckily there was a chair nearby she could sit in, and watch as she waited for her strength to return. If it did. The pregnancy was hard. But now that George was moving, Angelina felt relief wash over her.

She wasn't going to lose another friend. Not yet at least.

She just sat in the chair, and watched as healers came and went, as Molly fussed. She just enjoyed seeing George moving and alive and not dead. She did managed a smile at George, before the healers ushered everyone out, and Oliver Wood awkwardly arrived to make sure she made it to her flat since Alicia was busy.

Didn't stop her from returning the next day as soon as visitors were allowed. Or the next day. Angelina was there everyday George was in the hospital. So was Molly, and Angelina was content to just let Molly talk at George. She was just happy to watch George, reassure herself he was fine.

On his last day in Saint Mungos, Angelina and George were left alone in the room while Molly went to make sure all the paperwork was filled out so that George could go back to the Burrow. George hadn't been able to convince his mother that he was up to the task of looking after himself for a few more days, and nobody else wanted to get between Molly and her children. Not after Bellatrix.

"You aren't allowed to leave your kid fatherless," Angelina began, folding her arms. George rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

"Don't intend to," he said.

"And yes," Angelina finished.

George stared at her for a minute, not understanding her last statement. After a few minutes, his eyes lite up as he figured out what she meant.

Molly walked back into the room, complaining about healers losing things, to see George beaming.

"Mum! Angelina said yes!" George said, happy and over the moon and needing to share it with someone.

A few different looks passed over Molly's face. Surprise, confusion, concern, until she settled on elation.

"Congratulations! Oh, this is lovely. Goodness, we'll have to start planning the wedding. I suppose you'll wait until after your child is born?" Molly said, deciding to not comment on the fact that they hadn't been dating for very long. After all, she had decided she was going to marry Arthur after the first date. The only reason she waited was because she was a fifth year. She needed to at least finish school first.

"I'd rather not have a giant ceremony," Angelina began.

"I'd rather do it soon," George said at the same time.

George and Angelina looked at each other, and smiled.

"You doing anything next week?" Angelina asked, smiling. Since she had decided, there really was no point in putting it off.

"Nothing's in my schedule," George said, pretending to think.

"A week? That's hardly enough time to get the family together!" Molly said, her mind immediately turning to the excuse to get her family together in one place again. "Let's see, Percy could officiate, since he went and got his license. Victoire would love to be a flower girl again. Charlie could come early for Christmas..."

Molly was lost in her thoughts, busy replanning the wedding she had started planning the minute she had learned about their child. Molly was a romantic person at heart. George and Angelina looked at each other.

"I say we just let her plan it," George said. "She's going to try and help anyway."

"Just family and friends though."

* * *

To the surprise of many in the extended Weasley clan, George and Angelina were married on the 17th of December.

George's nieces were surprised, because didn't having children together mean you were married? Bill had told his two that he would explain when they were older. Percy turned red when Mimi asked, and Audrey laughingly explained that no, having a child together didn't imply marriage it was just something that often occurred after marriage.

His siblings were surprised because Angelina and George had only been dating for about two months, and Angelina was very pregnant and it seemed like any other time would have made more sense. In fact, the entire thing lasted only a half hour, because any longer than that and Angelina wouldn't be able to stand. She and George had promised Molly that she could plan a real reception after the child was born.

It was a beautiful, if short, ceremony. Teddy was the ring bearer, because as Harry had joked, it wasn't really a Weasley wedding if he wasn't. Victoire was the flower girl and enjoyed tossing the flowers around the backyard. Dominique was the flower monster, because being human was overrated, and it was much more fun to run around stomping on the flowers her sister dropped. And Mimi was the flower organizer, because she couldn't understand why you would toss the flowers on the ground when you could make pretty designs with them. And little Lucy was a flower, because Audrey thought it would amuse everyone.

It did.

And George left an empty spot for his best man, because everyone knew that no one else would ever fill that spot and it made the ceremony more beautiful.

There were tears of joy and sadness, and anger because a certain flower monster had wanted to continue to stomp the flowers and didn't want to sit in a seat, even if it was for only a half hour.

To George and Angelina, it was perfect. It was the best day of their lives.

To Mimi, the flowers could have been better used.

* * *

A week and a half later, it was replaced by two other days.

On December 31st, Fred George Weasley was born.

On January 1st, after much swearing and threatened hexes and thrown objects, Roxanne Alicia Weasley was born.

They looked a lot like their mother. Their father couldn't be happier.

Their cousins were getting tired of babies.


	6. Absence makes Strangers of Family

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or there would be things different. (possibly worse)

This sort of stems from my own disconnect from my younger sibling, because I wasn't around when life happened to them and when I returned, the sibling I saw didn't match the sibling I left. Charlie seems like he'd be in the same boat.

* * *

Charlie hadn't been around to see his younger siblings grow up. He didn't regret it, because he loved his job and couldn't imagine doing anything else. He had never felt at home on the ground with people. He needed to be flying, or working with dragons. Something exciting. People were just not his forte. He would just sit back and watch everyone at family gatherings Bill and his mother made him go to and feel a pang of guilt that he didn't really recognize his younger siblings.

Bill hadn't changed. Not really. Sure, he now had a scar on his face and three kids he was trying to keep track of, but Bill was the same Bill Charlie knew from Hogwarts. It wasn't much of a surprise that there had been no change, because Bill grew up before Charlie, and they had always been close. As close as Charlie was to anyone.

Percy had relaxed a bit. He remembered hearing from Bill about the brief period of time where Percy hadn't been on speaking terms with the family, but he hadn't really been around to understand it. Sure, it had been weird he hadn't been at Bill's wedding, but Charlie had hardly been around his siblings since he graduated, so it wasn't that life changing. But seeing Percy crack smiles, and attempt to joke, and even act loving to a human being was odd. It wasn't the Percy Charlie remembered, and every time he went to family events and saw Percy being the new Percy, he had to remember that fourth year Percy wasn't who he had grown up to be.

Charlie hated to admit it, but George scared him. Working with dragons and away from the rest of the family, it was easy to ignore the fact that he had lost a brother. Seeing George without Fred just screamed wrong to all of Charlie's senses, and for the longest time he tried to avoid being alone with George. Even several years later, when George had managed to move on and be happy and have a family no matter how unintentional it was in the beginning, Charlie was uneasy around him. He had been so used to FredandGeorge that just George was something he couldn't really handle.

Bill had ended up pulling him aside at some family event to tell him that George felt that Charlie hated him for living instead of Fred. After that, Charlie worked harder to try and overcome his inability to handle just George. After all, it wasn't his brother's fault Charlie no longer recognized George nor was able to deal Fred's absence.

Ron was a stranger. He wasn't the young annoying brother who kept looking up to him. He was a hero to Britain, and had friends Charlie didn't know and experiences Charlie could never have. Charlie felt that Ron was both older and wiser than he was now. Definitely more able to be responsible. Charlie couldn't imagine retiring from his job to help George. He couldn't imagine retiring from his job. He could barely imagine moving to a sanctuary in Britain. He would never be able to give up his dream to help someone else out. So this Ron was quite a bit different from the Ron that Charlie remembered. Sometimes Charlie forgot they were the same person.

Ginny was not a little girl. He had been a part of the group when they told Harry before the wedding that if he hurt her, they would find some way to make his life miserable. It was really hard to find an appropriate threat for someone who had come back from the dead, and he had been the only one who hadn't laughed when Harry had dryly pointed out that Ginny would probably do a better job making his life miserable if he hurt her. The Ginny he remembered had been seven or eight, and only really able to complain to Mum. He heard stories about Ginny from her school days, but stories of a girl who would curse anyone who crossed her just didn't seem to fit into the image he had of a young girl crying when he wouldn't let her try his broomstick. He still didn't know everything that had happened during her sixth year at Hogwarts, and sort of doubted he'd ever know, but he knew she had helped to lead a resistance group inside the castle. He wouldn't have been brave enough to do that. Too much dealing with people for him to comfortable leading. The only reason he had managed to get through being the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team was by letting the crazy young keeper come up with plans. So the woman that everyone called Ginny was as strange to Charlie as Ron.

His mother wanted him to come around more often, to move back to Britain, but Bill managed to run interference for him. Bill knew him, after all. Knew how Charlie didn't see people the same way most did. Knew how Charlie needed dragons, and the challenge presented in Romania. And so Bill would send him letters and occasionally visit with his family and tell him about how his siblings were doing. He wouldn't let Charlie forget, but also wouldn't force Charlie to deal with people who should have been familiar but were now strangers more than he had to. Charlie was really grateful to Bill.

But sometimes it made him wonder if he had changed at all. Did his siblings recognize him? Was it wrong that he had trouble connecting his memories of his siblings as kids with the adults they were now?


End file.
